Chapter 77
Chapter 77 The worst of the storm is stilling.
Within minutes, the winds turned from nasty to almost deadly. Doris could barely stand up straight for
more than a minute. It would shove her forward or back depending on where she turned and nothing she
did set her straight. Her hands felt numb with how much she braced herself for impact on the ground.
She couldn’t tell what direction she had evene from the camp while she was arguing with her inner
wolf. How far did she stray? Would they be able to hear her cries for help? Or would they ever find her
body when this was over with? Of course not-she couldn’t even hear herself breath. Her screams
sounded like whispers against the winds. Her wolf was entirely silent as if she abandoned herpletely
out in the cold, or perhaps she just couldn’t hear her over the roaring noise. Perhaps it was scared off
because of her own fear. Doris stumbled across the snow and fell face first into arge pile. She tried to
pull herself out of it, but the winds forced her down harder. It crossed her mind that she might die out
here. She tried to push those thoughts away and focus on standing, on getting herself up and to safety
but she couldn’t. It was too strong, it was too easy to give up and let it control her. Doris closed her eyes
and tried to change into her wolf. She tried to push the wolf out of her but it wouldn’te. How did she
make ite out? Why wasn’t it answering her calls? Now she was panicking. She felt it in her chest
and it rolled through her body like a shock. Doris forced herself out of the snow that tried to trap her and
fell right back on her ass when she stood again. The fog blinded her it was like there was nothing in front
of her for miles and she felt as if she was an entirely different world she entered. She was so cold, it was
agony. No sense of her felt warm or as if she would ever feel warmth again. This was it for her, it had to
be. “Help!” Doris screamed, but it was lost in the air lie she said nothing. Her fear crept on her and tried
to suffocate any chance of survival. She walked against the wind and towards it, until she realized she
was going in circles. She kept passing the same tall rocks and her footsteps were covered before she
noticed she was heading the same way over and over again. She must have passed it a dozen times
before she gave up and stopped for a minute to think. Doris finally decided to rest against the rocks
when her legs started to burn. She wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes tightly, praying
the winds would end and the storm would blow through soon enough. How long had she been out here?
Would hours turn to days? She wouldn’tst a single night in this weather. Her jacket wasn’t warm
enough to save her, not even close. Her teeth chattered so hard, she was afraid they would crack and
break into a million pieces. Her bones felt as if they were ice inside her and she felt as if shepletely
lost feeling of her toes and fingers. If she was a wolf, she might have been able to survive this with all of
her fur. But her attempts fell t, her wolf wouldn’t answer to her and she wondered if it was because of
their argumentWould she punish her enough until she died? Or did Doris just not understand how to
shift onmand? of course she didn’t know how to do that, not even close. She only shifted once and
she wasn’t even sure how that happened. It was ripped out of her without a second thought to save
someone else rather than herself. Perhaps deep down, she truly just didn’t want to save herself. Doris
slid down the rock and fell into the snow. Her hands and arms felt frozen, she could barely lift them as
more time passed. How long had sheying here? Would anyone notice she was even gone? Of course
not, she hadn’t told anyone she was going out for a walk. She bet everyone knew a storm wasing
and she was the only one stupid enough to wander out into the worst of it. She bet they all thought she
was in her cabin nice and warm like they all were. Snow began to cover her legs and the rest of her
body. She held her arms tighter around herself and trembled. In minutes, her legs had been almost
completely covered. She tried to stand and pull herself out of it, but her legs wouldn’t bend. They were
frozen, as were her arms. Sheid back in the snow almost willingly when the wind pushed her harder
than it ever had before. It covered her in ayer of snow as if she was just part of the ground and she
never existed. Why did she evene out here? She forgot what she had been mad about. She forgot
what made her mad enough to ever venture out to her death and not think about the horrible weather.
Freezing to death had never truly crossed her mind before. Even all the nights she shivered and wished
for a hundred nkets. All the times she fell into the snow and cursed at herself for not paying attention,
she never thought she would be caught out in a storm. How ridiculous of her to die this way after all she
had been through. Doris closed her eyes and felt the darkness start to take over. It was better than being
raped or beaten to death, she supposed. At least she could take a shred of her dignity with her and
hopefully it would pass on with her in the next life. By the time they found her body, she would be nothing
but ice. So cold, she would shatter like ss if they tried to move her. “Doris!”
The sound of his deep voice tugged at the edge of her mind. She saw his beautiful face behind her
closed eyes. He wasn’t mad at her like he usually was, he looked almost peaceful. She then
remembered why she left her room, because of their fight. She wondered what would have happened if
she just agreed to help. Would she beying here now? Most definitely yes, she would have been upset
with herself for agreeing to be something she wasn’t. “Doris!” The voice called again. It sounded louder
in her head, as if he was right next to her. She wondered if he noticed she was gone or if he would care
this time. So many times he hade to her aid when all she did was push back against him. She didn’t
deserve to be helped by anyone, least of all him. Doris opened her eyes a saw a dark shape in the fog. A
large body had his arm out in front of him, shielding his eyes from the rough snow that tried to take him
down. He moved like a force, she was sure she was imaging it. That tended to happen when you were
near death-hallucinating things she wished were true. She heard her name like a bell through the noise.
How could she hear him so clearly when she couldn’t even hear herself? William lowered his arm when
he saw her. His face was red and his eyes were squinted as if he could barely hold them open to look at
her. “Doris!” He shouted again. William fell to his knees beside her and pushed all of the snow off her
body before he took her in his arms. He lifted her as if she weighed nothing and she couldn’t even bend
her arms enough to hold onto him. Her legs dangled over his arms, he held her firm against his chest as
he looked around. 1 “We have to find cover, the worst of the storm is stilling.” He said loudly against
her ear. Doris shivered against his warm breath. He barely seemed to be bothered by the snow at all.
Doris closed her eyes again when the snow stung her eyes and tried to blind her vision. He held her firm
as he stumbled across the rough patches of snow. She listened to his heavy breath and tried to focus on
that when her insides felt as if they were giving up on her, “I think there might be somewhere nearby.” He
said loudly, as if he was just trying to keep her awake. Doris didn’t open her eyes, she wasn’t sure how
much time had passed until the sounds dimmed all at once as if the air was being blocked out. Doris
opened her eyes and saw nothing, just ckness. She tried to part her lips to speak, but nothing came
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Williamid her down. “I’ll get a fire starting—” Doris couldn’t hear a word he said after that as darkness
took her overpletely.